1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plotting mechanism for typewriters or office machines.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Several line-drawing devices for drawing horizontal and vertical lines on typewriters are known. However, they are rarely encountered in practice which may indicate that they have not been found satisfactory or are too great an impediment for the typing process.
German Patent No. 891,271 discloses a holding device for typewriters to accommodate a threaded ball-point writing implement cartridge in which a threaded holder for the writing cartridge is disposed on the card holder to the right or left of the type face guiding head and is fixed thereto by means of a clamp. The plastic card holder has a threaded sleeve on the writing cartridge instead of an insertion hole. Such an arrangement interferes with the typing process, particularly in machines in which the print head is disposed on a carriage which moves along the record carrier. Exchange of the ball-point pen cartridges would also require a certain amount of skill on the part of the machine operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,176 discloses a multi-color printer in which different color styli are disposed at the periphery of a drum-like holder. However, setting of this printer to one of the desired colors is very complicated. Further, DE-OS No. 3,619,567 which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/060,468, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,796 to Kittel discloses a ribbon cassette equipped with a color stylus in a displacement element which, by way of a handle attached thereto, can be pushed from an out-of-engagement position into a ready position. Although this device permits the creation of simple drawn lines in the horizontal, vertical or also in any other direction, the displacement of this displacement element must still be made by hand.